An Open Door
by elsa.bennet
Summary: A re-telling of 'Summer In Arendelle' from Kristoff's point of view. Kristoff was never in love with Anna so when she dumped him in the drop of a hat for a prince, he was less than upset. His newly budding friendship with Elsa may turn into something more...if one of them can open the door.
1. Chapter 1

I guess it all started the day Elsa froze everything. On accident, of course. She hadn't even realized it until Anna told her and she was pretty upset about it. That is the day I met them, though not the first time I had ever seen them.

I saw them for the first time when I was very young. The same day I met the trolls actually. It's funny how my whole life changed that day, in more ways than one. The King and Queen were riding through the woods with Anna and Elsa when Sven and I saw them. Behind one of the horses was a trail of ice, magically appearing where ever the horse went. Sven and I followed them through the woods and we ended up where the trolls live. We hid behind what we thought was a rock and discovered that Elsa, the oldest child of the King and Queen, had magical powers. She could make ice and snow appear at the wave of her hand. She had been playing with Anna and had slipped, accidentally hitting her in the head with a spell which caused a white streak to appear in Anna's strawberry blonde hair. They had healed Anna but had to remove the memories of magic, but he left the fun. Papi is very proud of that moment. He says that is why the trolls have been able to live in peace all these years.

After that, the King and Queen shut the gates and no one saw the daughters for years, until the royal funeral. It was a small service, but word quickly spread of Anna's beauty as well as Elsa's absence.

The day I met the royal sisters of Arendelle had started like every other day for Sven and I. We had just sold the last of our ice the day of the coronation and were leaving the village when we saw a man run into a familiar face with his horse. I started walking towards her to make sure she is okay when the man on the horse helped her up. Figuring she was in good hands with the well dressed man, I turned back around and we left. It was after dark when we started heading back to town with our haul of ice. After a few miles, I realized that the snow was not fading. If anything, it was snowing more and more the closer we got to Arendelle. An hour later, my world flipped upside down.

I had seen the young woman walk into Oaken's. It was the same woman that had been hit with the horse in the village. She was wearing a well made summer dress and it looked as though she had fallen into the creek that had yet to freeze over. Her dress was rigid and she barely made it up the small set of stairs and into Oaken's. My plan was to wait until she left before going in, but Sven knew Oaken had carrots and was very impatient. I walked into the small shop/sauna and grabbed the only pickaxe and rope he had to purchase.

The rest is history. Very complicated history.

It only took me a moment of glancing at the woman in Oaken's to realize it was Princess Anna. Her hair was exactly the same as when I had first seen her with the trolls. When she demanded that Sven and I take her to the north mountain, I knew I would end up helping this young, feisty woman. Well, technically she is a year older than me.

Anna had kept saying that Elsa would never hurt her. She was sure of it. She had risked her life trudging through the snow to find her sister and try to talk some sense into her. She described Elsa as a gorgeous, yet distant woman. Though we both now understood why she was distant, Anna couldn't seem to forgive her older sister for not confiding in her. It wasn't my place to explain to Anna why Elsa didn't confide in her and it was hard to keep this secret from a woman who was nothing but kind towards me and my anti-social ways. I started seeing Anna is a different light shortly before we saw Elsa. She was quirky and kind, feisty and determined. They were admirable qualities but she was engaged to Hans then. It wasn't until I saw Elsa that I realized Anna was naive and immature.

My first face to face with Elsa didn't go well, but I was able to see the pain in her eyes. I knew how hard it must have been for her to keep this secret from her little sister, from her best friend, and the pain was obvious if you just looked in her eyes. Those beautiful, bright eyes. Just one look into those eyes and I knew she needed someone on her side. Anna kept saying she didn't mean to freeze everything and I believed her. Those eyes did not belong to someone evil. If she hadn't created Marshmallow or accidentally hit Anna with her powers, I would have stayed with her. I would have talk with her and showed her that fear had become her worse enemy, just as Papi had predicted but together, we could change that.

But she did create Marshmallow and she had struck Anna with her powers, on accident of course.

I took Anna to my family for them to heal her but they decided she needed an act of true love to break the spell. Of course, they couldn't just say that. They tried to marry us first. I'm so very glad that Anna had Hans then and that we were not married. Life now would be very different, and I wouldn't trade what I have now for the world.

As you already know, we rushed Anna back to Hans who turned out to be a royal prick. Sven had pushed me back to Anna, thinking I might be her act of true love. I saw Anna on the frozen fjord but she turned and risked her life to save her sister, who Hans had just pulled his sword on. This was her act of true love. Love for her sister un-thawed her after she was frozen solid. It was a magical and wonderful sight to watch. I was so caught up in the magic and awe of the situation that I didn't realize at first that Elsa had started getting rid of the winter she had accidentally created. Anna punched Hans and when we got back to the village we threw him into a cell.

Most people don't know what happened in the week between Elsa unfreezing everything and when Anna and I kissed for the first time. To be honest, it wasn't much. Sven and I mostly stayed at home while the country celebrated their Queen and Princess were safe, despite people being wary of Elsa's powers. When she came clean with them about the extent of her powers, people started going to the north mountain to admire her ice palace. Marshmallow became the guard, making sure no one actually went inside. Elsa didn't want anyone hurting themselves on the ice. When I wasn't at home, I was in the castle with Anna and Elsa. They invited me to breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. It was obvious that Anna had grown feelings for me. She was not conservative with her flirting and always found a reason to give me a hug. What I really wanted was more time with Elsa. She could make perfect sculptures in just a matter of seconds. Her eyes attracted me first, her powers second. Her eyes always pulled me in. Whenever she laughed, I couldn't help but stare at her. She was beautiful in every way. Anna was beautiful too, but I never got lost in her eyes.

The day Anna gave me the sled, I had been talking to Sven about my mixed feelings. On one hand, I couldn't stop how I felt about Elsa, but she was the Queen and they would never allow her to be with a commoner who sells ice. Especially when she can just make all the ice Arendelle will ever need. On the other hand, Anna was obviously waiting for me to make a move. She was like a puppy, always wanting to be around me. Her presence was comforting and I found myself growing attached to her.

The sled was the cherry on top. I knew it was from Elsa, but when Anna presented it to me, I couldn't help what I was saying. I did want to kiss her, just maybe not the same way she wanted to kiss me.

We had been courting for two months when she left me for Prince Arjan. I acted like I was upset. Like I was heartbroken, but really I had seen it coming. She had grown tired of me just weeks after our first kiss. It was obvious she needed someone with more...money to keep her interested and I was unable to do that on a terrible salary. To tell the truth, I had been thinking of ending it myself anyway. I felt like I was stringing her along. She was always saying she loved me and I was saying it back, but not I didn't mean what she thought I meant. I loved her company, but I was not in love with Princess Anna of Arendelle.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't long after we broke up that Elsa and I started hanging out more often. She was upset that Anna would throw me away so quickly, and for Hans' brother at that. We had been friends for months but Anna took up so much of my time I was never able to have much one on one time with the Queen. I felt so...free with Elsa. I often forgot that she was the Queen of a whole country, that she was in charge of the welfare of thousands of people. She was just Elsa to me. It was our first trip into the woods that changed all of that for me.

She wanted to learn more about my ice business. A lot of the villagers were puzzled as to why I still had a job. I understand, I mean we have a Queen who can literally conjure snow from her palms. She always said she would never willingly put someone out of a job and that if people wanted ice, they needed to come see me. It was very kind of her.

Anyway, we were only a couple hundred yards into the woods, no where near our final destination when Sven heard a noise. He stopped the sled and I looked around. Everything seemed fine. It was too early for the wolves to be out and most the other creatures weren't this close to town. That was when I saw him. A man dressed in all black. He was hiding, or at least trying to, in a tree a few yards ahead of us. He wasn't very far up either, like he heard us coming. I was cautious and told Sven to find us a different route. We were turning around when the man jumped from the tree and ran towards us. Suddenly we were surrounded by men in black.

_ Excuse me gentlemen. May we help you? We are on royal business to collect ice for some villagers._

_ We don't see how that is royal business, but pretty lady we do need your help._

_ I assure you that it is, in fact, royal business. I do not appreciate your tone sir, but I will look past that for now. What do you need assistance with?_

_ We are looking for someone. A beautiful woman who can make ice shoot from her hands. We are told she is the Queen._

I knew that this wouldn't end well if she admitted that she was the person they were searching for. I'm glad she could sense this as well. I don't want to imagine what would have happened had she said she was the Queen.

_ She sits in her castle, as she does most days. Do you require ice? That is what this trip is for. You can wait down in the village. We should be finished in a matter of hours._

_ No ma'am. We do not require ice. We seek to meet the Queen and learn about her magic. She is not the only magical human in the world and we have walked for many, many days to meet her._

_ She is a kind woman, I'm sure she will meet with you. Are you an organization?_

_ Yes ma'am. We are. The Order of the Matador. We seek knowledge of magic and why certain humans are both with powers. It is very rare but we hope to be able to find a way to...acquire these powers._

_ Well gentlemen, that sounds very interesting. Unfortunately, I know nothing of magic. The Queen doesn't take lunch with commoners very often._

You don't look like a commoner ma'am. You are dressed very nicely for just a trip into the woods.

_ To be honest gentlemen, this is both a trip for work and for pleasure. You see, I have been in love with this man for almost three years now and we were just engaged last week. My ring is being fitted at this moment and we haven't had a single moment alone together since we announced the engagement. So yes, I am wearing my nicest possible cloak and dress to spend an amazing afternoon with my fiancé._

_ Well I suppose we will leave you alone now. It was nice to meet you both._

_ Let's go Tiger._

Just like that, Sven took off. We went east when we needed to go north and even stopped for a small picnic. Elsa tried to put on a strong face, but it was obvious that the encounter made her nervous so I decided to try my best to get her to have a good time.

We finally made it out to the lake I went to most often. I spent a few hours showing Elsa the ropes, which was honestly quite fun. She was a quick learner and by the end of the trip, she was able to get a block of ice almost as large as my usual blocks on the sled. She denies that she used any of her powers to help her, but I'm not sure I believe her...those blocks are pretty heavy.

On our way back to Arendelle we had pulled over for Sven and I to find a quiet place to...well, go to the bathroom when the men in black found us again.


	3. Chapter 3

_ Hello gentlemen. Have you been to Arendelle yet?_

_ We have. We were greeted by guards and were told the Queen was out for the day._

_ How strange. She rarely leaves the castle._

_ How strange indeed. I see your fiance has left you. Where has he gone? Trouble in paradise?_

_ Oh hardly. He took Tiger to find a quiet spot for them to relieve themselves. They shouldn't be too far off._

_ Actually my love, I am right here. I saw the men approaching and thought that I should come back to you. Never trust strangers._

_ Well then. Since you both are back, we should get going._

_ Actually ma'am. I'm having a hard time with this map. Could you point to where we are?_

_ Honestly, no I wouldn't be able to. My fiance might be able to help you with you though, he knows these woods better than I._

_ No ma'am. I really think you can help me._

With that, he held up an Arendelle map. In the top left corner, there was a small portrait of Elsa. Of course. How could we forget? Ever since they opened the gates, there have been many paintings of Anna and Elsa commissioned around town.

_ It seems, ma'am, that you have been lying to us._

_ I promise you, I have not. We are simply on a date out in the-_

_ Queen, you may stop now. We know that you lied to us. We just want some answers and the only person to help us is you._

With that, three men grabbed me, pulled my hands behind my back, and put a sack over my head. I could hear Sven struggling with what was probably a net of some kind.

_ Now gentlemen. I think it's best you all leave now. I don't want to hurt anyone but there are moments when I cannot control myself._

_ We have your fiance. You will not hurt any of us. We will not hesitate to kill this man._

_ Men. You are so easily fooled by a pretty girl and her smile. This man is not my fiance. He is a servant of the castle. We are not on a date, nor will we ever be. As Queen, I am to be married to a royal from another country and trust me men, I have many possible suitors. I do not care what you do to this man. I can easily get another villager to ride out into the mountains and collect ice._

_ There is no need to lie. We see the way he looks at you. There is love in his eyes._

_ Of course there is. Love for his Queen. I expect my servants to care for me. Now, release this young man and leave us. We have a delivery to make and you are only wasting my precious time._

_ Kill him._

Everything happened at once. I threw myself onto the ground, the sack coming off my head. Sven kicked the men holding him down (they didn't have a net) and ran towards me. The men behind me were caught up in the surprise and didn't notice Sven charging towards them. All three were knocked out cold. I jumped onto his back and we ran for Elsa, who was fighting off the leader while his comrades watched. I scrambled for my torch. It was the only thing resembling a weapon that I owned. We ran right up to Elsa and I smashed my wooden torch right into the middle of his back. I pulled Elsa onto Sven and we rode away. A few men dashed after us but once they realized they weren't going to catch up they turned back, probably to help their fallen men.

Wow. That was intense.

She sure was right. We rode until we could see Arendelle, then Sven practically collapsed. He had run for almost an hour with Elsa and I on his back. He deserved a nice rest.

I was petting his head when I saw Elsa taking off her cloak. I got caught up in the moment and couldn't help but stare. This woman was so brave. These men had attacked us and she had refused to use her magic to hurt them. She was also stunningly gorgeous. Her hair had fallen out of the braid it was normally in and was cascading down her now bare shoulders. She turned around and me staring.

_ I don't mean to be informal Kristoff, but I think Sven needs this more than I do at the moment._

_ I gave her a puzzled look. She smiled and walked over the Sven, placing her cloak over him like a blanket._

_ He could use a nice nap._

She sat down right next to me and joined me in petting him. He smiled and we sat like that for ten minutes before I couldn't handle it anymore.

_Elsa, you were really great back there. You handled that really well._

_ Thanks Kristoff. I guess my cold demeanor pays off sometimes._

_ Haha. Elsa, you don't have a cold demeanor. You're kind and caring. Anyone can see that!_

_ But it's only recently. I used to be cold, only recently has anything else come pouring out._

_ That's not true and we both know it. You're wonderful._

It was then...staring at her face as she blushed and focused her attention on Sven that I realized my feelings for her had grown into something...much larger. I no longer saw her as Anna's older sister, or the attractive woman I see occasionally. She was officially Else. A beautiful, caring, loving, perfect woman. Too bad she only saw me as a friend.

_ Well, I guess it's time to get back. It's late and I don't want anyone to worry...but first...Sven! Wake up!_

We walked to a small clearing and Elsa began to work her magic. It was positively beautiful watching her create with her hands. The wave of an arm, the wiggle of a finger. How she bit her bottom lip. She was so sexy while she was creating. After a few seconds I figured she would notice me staring so I looked at Sven. He had a big goofy grin on his face while watching what Elsa was building. I looked over to see a huge wonderland. A Sven sized slide made of a ice, a giant statue of carrots...it was wonderful.

When I dropped her off at the castle gates, I couldn't help but watch her go. I hoped we'd remain friends. I never imagined she might feel something towards me.


	4. Chapter 4

We'd been the best of friends for almost a year when things changed. I had been stealing glances at her for months, never getting caught. Anna was distracted with her boyfriend and Elsa was busy running the country. Whenever we were able to sneak out it was nothing but laughs and stolen looks. I didn't think it possible but every time I saw her, I swear she was more beautiful than the time before.

It was the anniversary of her coronation. There was a huge ball being thrown and practically the whole country was going to be there. No one was really expected to dress up but there were a hand full of women who had worn their finest dresses. I hadn't expected to dance at all but when I saw Elsa's face while she was dancing with some creepy old guy, I knew I had to rescue her.

May I cut in sir? There are a few things I need to speak to the Queen about.

The man smiled and stepped away, thanking Elsa for the dance. She smiled then turned to me. She put her hands in mine and we finished off the dance together.

Thank you Kristoff. He was quite persistant about me sending a storm to an enemy nation of his and would not take no as an answer. I don't understand why people want me to use my powers for evil. I guess when you announce your powers by accidently throwing ice all over a room, people assume you enjoy doing things like that.

I'm sure that isn't it Else. You are a beautiful woman and first and foremost, they want to be seen dancing with the most gorgeous Queen on the face of this planet...who also happens to be single and have magical powers that would help them in some way.

Oh Kristoff. You're ridiculous, but thank you anyway. I do appreciate you saving me.

You saved me once. I am forever in your debt.

Oh please Kristoff. Shut up you sap!

I smiled at her and realized the music had stopped and most of the people in the room were watching us. I took a step back, took a bow, and thanked the Queen for the dance. I ended up saving her from almost all of her dance partners. I could tell from the twisted, forced smile on her face that each partner was the same. They wanted something from her with nothing to give her in return, except the occasional bachelor. There was one man who seemed to never take his eyes off Elsa and I was sure he was going to propose more than just a business offer, but for whatever reason she never seemed to be able to give him a dance. He took it with honor, smiling widely and thanking her for her time. He seemed kind, but I could feel the jealousy balling up inside me. I just wanted to wisk her out of this uncomfortable situation and have some fun in the woods, skating or hanging out with my family. They loved Elsa and she loved them. They seemed less determined to marry me off once they find out what had happened with Anna, which I was honestly happy for. I didn't want them to scare Elsa off with their talk of true love and how I have bugs.

I found out the next night that Anna was engaged to Prince Arjan. I laughed, thinking of how when I first met her, she thought Hans' last name was "of the Southern Isles." That means she'd be Princess Anna of the Southern Isles. I bet that was something she never thought possible. Despite people walking on the tip toes around me, I was very comfortable with this. Anna deserved to be happy and if Arjan made her truely happy, then I had no hard feelings. I still loved her like a sister and if he ever hurt her like his stupid little brother did, I'd tear him apart.

Elsa wants to talk about Anna and Arjan soon, which means another trip into the woods together. I loved our alone time together, I was able to learn so much about her in these stolen moments. I forgot she was Queen and that I was just a humble commoner, technically a servant of the kingdom. She was much softer and laughed a lot more when we spent time in the woods, it was my favorite side of her.

The next night we were able to escape the castle and went to the field where she had made Sven his very own playground. The ice had, of course, melted away which left the field empty. She got a huge, wicked grin on her face and built a large maze.

Whoever finishes first gets some carrots and a kiss!

Sven, Olaf, and I sat dead in the middle of the maze. I knew I had no chance of winning, what with carrots being the prize and all. When she blew her whistle, we all went off in seperate directions. After a few minutes I realized that despite that carrots, if I won I would get a kiss. A kiss from the woman I love. I started competing and as it turns out, I won.

My Queen. It seems I have beaten that smelly reindeer and small snowman and will gladly take my prize of delicious carrots.

Her giggle was so cute, I knew I would blush the moment her lips touched my cheek.

Oh my dear, brave, valiant Kristoff. Here are the prizes I promised. A bundle of carrots to keep you healthy and a kiss from the worlds most eligible bachelorette, or maybe I'm the worlds scariest bachelorette...

When her lips touched my cheek, my whole body tingled. I could feel my face turning bright red and tossed some snow on it quickly to cool it down. I knew that for the next few nights my dreams would be filled with reliving this moment, over and over.

Riding back to Arendelle, Sven slipped and started to fall over. I knew he would be fine, I saw Elsa quickly conjuring a pillow of snow for him to land on. I was worried about Elsa. She was making no attempt to jump off Sven, too focused on making sure he didn't fall on an old tree stump. I grabbed underneath her arms and pulled her quickly from Svens back. After the incident, I made sure she rode in front of me so I could protect her. I wasn't going to have her hurt on my watch, especially since this wouldn't be easily explained to Anna or any of her royal court. Why would the Queen be out in the middle of the night with a commoner? Surely he must be taking advantage of her. Hundreds of terrible scenarios ran through my mind in the time it took us to arrive at the castle gates. I helped her off Sven and I couldn't help but hold on to her a little bit longer when we said our goodbyes. I needed to be more careful.

I ended the night as I do most nights, singing a goodnight song to Sven. Though, tonight was different. I sang about Elsa without using her name, of course. If someone heard me, they might spread gossip through the village and Else didn't need to deal with that. Sven seemed to enjoy my new song, nodding his head at certain parts. I slept very well that night and just as I had thought, I dreamt about my Queen.


End file.
